Couple of questions for making a "Mulled Pumpkin Mead"

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damdaman

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I want to make a winter-warmer, semi-sweet pumpkin mead with mulling spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves). I haven't found any recipes for mead specifically that match this, but if anyone knows of a good one, I'd love to see it.

I have a couple questions...

1) Using canned pumpkin, how much per gallon? I would like the pumpkin to be strong enough that you don't need to strain to detect it.
2) I've heard that toasting pumpkin before using it in wine is a good idea, I'm assuming the same applies to mead? Does anyone know how long/what temp?
3) When would be the best time to add the pumpkin and mulling spices? Primary or secondary? Boil the spices first, or just dump them in?

Thanks for your tips/feedback...
 
Don't know about amount of pumpkin, but you should toast it in the oven (or else it will just taste like vegatable). Don't know about temps or times though.

Put all your spices in the secondary.
 
Feel free to give this a shot or tweek it as you like. I really enjoyed the mead myself and think it makes a great holiday mead. It is a little late in the season to be ready in the next couple months IMO but your preference may vary. I have never baked the pumpkin, just the sweet potato. That may be nice but not sure. Happy brewing.

1 gallon

2.5 lb honey
15oz pumpkin puree or 1 ¾ cups of fresh shredded pumpkin from pie pumpkins
15oz more pumpkin to be added to secondary only
1 cup of cooked and mashed sweet potato (Just about half as much pumpkin)
½ Gallon Apple juice
3 tea bags of black tea (Stash premium Chai spiced tea Or Earl Grey would work great)
1 tsp of ginger
1 tsp allspice
1 clove
1 cinnamon stick
1tsp of yeast nutrients
Add water to a gallon
Yeast (London ESB 1968)

At first start your smack pack of yeast to have it ready. Take 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add in tea packets along with the spices. Boil for 15min then cool to room temp for 30 min. Pour liquid over Pumpkin, sweet potato & honey in carboy. Make sure to remove tea bags but leave the spices. Shake the carboy a lot. Add yeast nutrients, apple juice and top off the carboy with water. Mix well again and then let it rest until at room temp. Finally pitch yeast. Rack after 2 – 4 weeks and add additional pumpkin to secondary. Let sit 2 - 3 months, rack and sulfite then repeat monthly until clear. Bottle or bulk age as preferred. Tastes great after 6 months.
 
Thanks for the recipe, starting to give me a framework to work around. I don't expect it to be ready for this season, don't worry. :mug:
 
Here's my plan, critiques welcome...

3gal batch

4 15oz cans of pumpkin
1 sweet potato
9 lbs wildflower honey
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 clove
energizer and nutrient
lavlin d47

I'm going to toast 3 cans of pumpkin and the sweet potato, pour boiling water over the spices, and add the whole thing to primary with the honey and water to make 3.5 gallons, mix thoroughly, add the nutrient & energizer, cool, pitch yeast, ferment 2-4 weeks until SG is about 1015-1020.

Then I'm going to taste and determine if/how much more pumpkin and spices I want to add to secondary. I'll probably at least add the 4th can of pumpkin at this point, possibly a small amount of spices to reintroduce some aromatics lost during fermentation.

I hope this will finish around 1012-1015.
 
I noticed that the pumpkin and potato must makes for a very very nutrient rich must and allows yeast to hit their ABV limit and pass it a bit. With lalvin d47 this will probably run dry at 14.5% - 15% ABV. You might try an ale yeast or be prepared to stabilize and back sweeten.
 
Thanks, good to know. I think I'd rather over shoot and backsweeten than risk fermentation dying out early and trying to restart. :)
 
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